Behind Their Masks
by Mandi96
Summary: The summer before they started High School, Ryan and Sharpay made a bet...
1. Chapter 1

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**CHAPTER ONE**

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Ryan Evans woke to the sound of his alarm going off. He lazily reached one arm up and hit the snooze button. He deliberately set his alarm for earlier, knowing that he would do that. He lay there, not sleeping, just resting, his mind going over what he had to do today. Today was their first day of school; they were in their junior year: grade 10. (**A/N: the year after HSM took place, I'm Canadian, so I have no idea how American High Schools have their grades, or classes or anything. Most stuff that I use will be based on the Canadian (BC specifically) High School.)** The alarm went off again, and Ryan reached over and turned it off.

He got up, still in his boxers, and headed over to Sharpay's room. It was a routine of theirs, that Ryan would be the one to wake Sharpay up. "Sharpay, Sharpay!" He whispered, shaking her a little.

"Mmhmmm, five more minutes."

"No, now." He replied, knowing that she would.

Sharpay rolled over onto her back, eyes still closed, and got out of bed. With her eyes still closed, she headed over to the bathroom that connected bother their rooms. Ryan stood there until Sharpay came out again. She opened one eye and peeked at her brother, then ran towards the bed, hoping to get there before Ryan could stop her. Ryan rolled his eyes. She always tried to do this. He grabbed her, and started tickling her.

"Ry-Ryan! St-stop! I'm awake, I'm awake!" Sharpay said, trying to keep quiet. If they woke their dad up it would not be pretty. Their dad needed to sleep in mornings.

Ryan stopped, knowing that she was awake. He looked at the clock. "Come on, we only have an hour before we have to leave for school."

"An hour!" Sharpay glared at her brother and started running around getting ready. "How can you expect me to be ready in an hour, it'll take me half an hour to shower, 10 minutes to get dressed, 15 minutes to apply make-up and do my hair, that'll leave me five minutes to eat breakfast!" She looked at the clock. Stopped running and glared at her brother again. He was just standing there, arms folded (still just in his boxers) with a smile on his face. "Ryan," she said calmly. "One of these days, I'm going to STRANGLE YOU!" She looked back at the clock. It read 6:00. They had two hours before they had to leave for school.

Ryan smiled. "Well, you're awake now." With that, he walked back to his own room. He knew that Sharpay would be taking her time in the shower. He started to put together his stuff for school. He loved the first day of school, because everything was new. New binders, new notebooks, new pencils and pens, and most of all, they would be learning new stuff. Ryan packed his backpack, leaving out his schedule. That he'd be putting in his pocket, to tape inside his locker. He looked at the door of the bathroom. Sharpay was singing as usual. It was one of their favourite songs, Singing in the Rain. Sharpay loved the music and words. Ryan loved the dance.

He glanced over his schedule.

Homeroom: Ms Darbus, theatre

First period: AP Chemistry, Ms. Scireche. **(A/N: Scire: Latin to know Che: chemistry)**

Second period: AP Calculus, Ms. Stena. **(A/N: Stena: Old Slavic wall)**

Third period: Drama, Ms Darbus

Fourth period: Physical Education, Mr. Iernan **(A/N: Old English run)**

Fifth period: AP Biology, Mr. Bodig **(A/N: Old English body)**

Sixth period: AP Physics, Mr. Centrummess **(A/N: Centrum: Latin centre Mess: Messa, Vulgar Latin mass)**

Seventh period: English, Ms. Verbum **(A/N: Latin word)**

Eighth period: AP History, Mr. Werre **(A/N: Old High German strife)**

Ninth period: AP French, Mme. DuLange **(A/N: Lange: Anglo-French tongue)**

Tenth period: AP Computer Science, Mr. Idein **(A/N: Greek to see)**

**(A/N: Ok, let me explain how this works, for those of you who don't know. The schedule is split into 2 days. Day A is first period-fourth period. Day B is fifth period-eighth period. Lunch is after the first two classes of the day. On the first day of school, each class is 15 minutes, allowing the teacher time to explain what they'd be learning, handing out sheets and stuff. Normally classes are 75 minutes long. They go to all of their classes on the first day. The day after, is Day A's schedule. Then comes Day B's schedule and they keep switching.) **

Ryan had two extra classes; these would be taken after school. Ryan's day doesn't end when the final bell goes. His ninth period is on Day A, his tenth period on Day B. The school arranged these particular classes to be those ones, because no one else was in those classes. Ryan smiled to himself. No one was interested in taking AP French, or AP Computer Science. He was glad of that. If someone else was in one of those extra classes, the whole school would know that he wasn't what he pretended to be. His mind flashed back to a certain event that had happened 2 years earlier.

**-------------------------------FLASHBACK-------------------------------**

_Ryan and Sharpay were sitting on their deck, talking._

_"I can't believe we're going to be in HIGH SCHOOL!" Sharpay shrieked. She was so excited._

_"That means we'll be learning way cooler stuff, not this baby stuff that we learnt before. I knew everything we were taught last year before they taught it!"_

_"Grade seven was fun," said Sharpay, "but they treated us like babies. Now we'll be in High School and the fun can begin!"_

**(A/N: in Canada, High School goes from Grade 8-Grade 12)**

_"And we'll have fun, fun fun," Ryan sang, laughing as his sister joined him._

_"Till Daddy takes the T-bird away!" They both laughed, thinking of the grade seven musical that they had starred in. Their best friend, Kelsi had written it. She'd taken a bunch of the Beach Boy's songs and written a musical based on them. It had been so much fun._

_Ryan looked at Sharpay. "Seeing as we're just sitting here, why don't we phone Kelsi and ask her to join us?"_

_Sharpay agreed, and picked up her cell phone. "Hey Kelsi, me and Ryan-"_

_"Ryan and I." Ryan corrected her. She rolled her eyes._

_"ME and RYAN," she said deliberately "were wondering if you'd like to join us. We're just sitting here talking about how totally cool it would be if you joined us." She nodded, and hung up. "She'll be right over."_

_Two minutes later, Kelsi walked across the yard. She only lived a few houses away._

_"Hey guys," she said, and sat down._

_"Hey Kels," they said in unison._

_She laughed, "It creeps me out when you do that."_

_"We were just talking about how totally awesome High School is going to be. We had so much fun picking what classes we were going to take. Of course, Ryan is taking all the boring classes."_

_"They're interesting!" He protested._

_Kelsi laughed. This was in over area where Ryan and Sharpay would never see eye to eye._

_They sat in silence, everybody just happy to sit there in the sun. They didn't need to talk._

_"I wonder what the ultimate acting contest would be." Ryan and Sharpay said at the exact same time. Kelsi just stared at them._

_"Ok guys, that was really freaky." Kelsi thought for a while. "I think the ultimate acting contest would be to act all the time. You'd have to be really really good to fool everybody, and to never slip up at all."_

_"Hmm," Sharpay said, and she and Ryan looked at each other._

_"I bet I could do it." They both said, and then laughed._

_"You know, this would be the perfect time to do it," Ryan said. "It's a new school, and people would notice the change, but they wouldn't wonder, because everything changes when you reach High School."_

_"It would be so much fun to see if we could do it!" Sharpay said. They looked at each other._

_"Why not?" They said at the exact same time._

_"But what should we act like?" Ryan wondered. They both looked at Kelsi. "Kelsi, you tell us what we should act like." Ryan told Kelsi._

_"Oh, wow. Give me an easy job would ya." She sat, thinking hard. Suddenly she sat up. "I've got it! Ryan, you have to act dumb."_

_"What?" Ryan was surprised. "I don't know if I could do that, I mean it's kinda hard to hide an IQ of 140." Ryan was serious._

_"140? I didn't know that," Kelsi's eyes widened._

_"Oh yeah," Sharpay said. "We had him tested a while back, because it was kinda starting to creep us out how he was so smart. Turns out he does have an IQ of 140. Me, I'm just normal. Go figure."_

_Ryan looked at his feet. "Um, Kels, if you could keep that a secret, it'd be nice. I'm OK with people thinking I'm smart, but I don't want to be treated like a freak because of my high IQ."_

_Kelsi nodded. "Sure Ryan, I understand. But seriously, that would be YOUR perfect acting challenge, BECAUSE you're so smart." Sharpay nodded in agreement._

_"Ok, Kels, what would mine be?" She asked, wondering what Kelsi would come up with._

_"Oh, um ok. Be selfish." Sharpay's eyes widened. "And be mean to Ryan." Sharpay looked at Ryan._

_"I can't be mean to Ryan, he's my TWIN brother! Besides, being selfish, I mean, that would be just mean!" Sharpay was the most unselfish person in their grade. She and Ryan were going to give up their roles in the last musical, because they could both see that Amy Marston really wanted it. They had planned to do it, but then Amy stopped them and told them that they could go ahead and she would settle for a different role. Sharpay was uncertain of this; she kept asking Amy if she was sure. It wasn't until they'd begun rehearsals and Sharpay could see for herself that Amy was happy, that Sharpay stopped worrying._

_"Then it's your perfect acting challenge, because you're so nice." Kelsi said reasonably. Ryan and Sharpay both looked at each other._

_"It would be good practice," they said in unison._

_Sharpay nodded, and turned to Kelsi. "Ok, we'll do it."_

_"How long?" Ryan wondered._

_"As long as you can take it." Kelsi smiled._

_Sharpay's eyes narrowed, taking the challenge. "Well I, for one, will be able to take it for far longer than my brother."_

_"Ha! Could not."_

_"Want to make our own little side bet?"_

_"You're on."_

_"Ok, I bet that I can go longer than you. The one who loses will have to-"_

_"Go on a date that the other sets them up on." Ryan finished at the same time as Sharpay._

_"Ok, that was freaky." Kelsi said, staring at them. "What if someone finds out? What happens then?"_

_Ryan and Sharpay thought, then Ryan came up with an idea. "Well, we swear them to secrecy. But if they tell, the bets off, and the person who's person told has to tell everybody in the school about both of us."_

_"That's a good idea, Ryan. I agree, and accept. Wait. We don't act at home. I can't be mean to you at school and at home too." Sharpay said, her eyes filling with tears at the thought of it._

_"Of course, Dee." Ryan said, taking her hand. Dee was his nickname for her, short for Diva._

_Sharpay smiled at him, "same goes for you, Whiz." Whiz was her special name for him._

_They both looked at Kelsi. "Ok, we'll do it. School starts next week, we'll start then."_

_Ryan turned to Sharpay. "Ok we need to discuss some more details about this. I am still going to do well in school. I'm not sacrificing my grades for some bet. I will, however, not volunteer info in class. I will talk to my teachers, and make up some excuse. I will do all of my presentations after class, and they will never call on me in class, or hold my work up for everyone to see. My report card will be for my, your and dad's eyes only. I won't be showcasing my stupidity; I'll just make stupid comments, and say dumb stuff." He sighed. "Is that alright with you?"_

_Sharpay nodded. It was fine with her, if her brother didn't showcase his part in the bet. It would be hard enough hiding his IQ of 140 as it was. "Ok Ryan. But there are some things that I will not do too. I will not go out of my way to be mean to anybody except you. I will be selfish, but whenever I am, let me please do something to rectify what I do? For example, if I push someone out of something, let me please make sure, anonymously, that they're able to participate in some other way, or do something. Please, I can't just be mean to someone and leave it at that!"_

_Ryan nodded "Sure Dee." They shook hands, and smiled at each other._

_"This is going to be fun!" They smiled at each other._


	2. Chapter 2

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**CHAPTER TWO**

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Two years later, on the first day of their junior year, Ryan was standing by his locker. He'd just finished unloading his backpack, his binders were neatly labelled, his notebooks were tucked away and his schedule was held in place on his locker door by some magnets. Above his schedule, he had a small magnetic whiteboard. He used this to write notes on, notes for himself as well as Sharpay (who knew his combination and would often borrow pens off of him). Written across the top of the whiteboard, in his small, neat writing, Ryan had written his quote of the day. It was a habit of his, the quote of the day. He belonged to an internet group. Each night, someone would choose a famous quote and encrypt it. They would then e-mail it to everyone in the group. It was a little contest. Whoever figured it out first got a point. Ryan smiled to himself, looking at the quote. With his high IQ, it rarely took him past lunchtime to figure it out. He wouldn't tell his friends that, though. They would stop sending him the puzzle. He made sure to only win every so often, about once a week.

He grabbed his full backpack and closed his locker door. School for everyone else had ended a few minutes ago; he always brought his backpack to his extra classes. Since today was the first day, he'd be going to both of them.

He and Sharpay had a system. While he was attending his extra class, Sharpay would be downtown volunteering. She had three different volunteer programs that she attended Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After volunteering for an hour, Sharpay would phone their dad for a ride, and their dad would pick Sharpay up on the way to get Ryan. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she would stay at the school's theatre practicing or in the library reading until Ryan came and got her.

Ryan walked down to his AP French class, but stopped just short of walking through the door. He quickly ducked behind the open door, and listened to what was happening in the classroom.

"But Mme. DuLange, my father says that I need French: that I have to take it!" Ryan recognized Troy Bolton's voice, one of his friends.

"I'm sorry Troy, but you barely passed French last year. The only way I could let you take it-" She trailed off, thinking hard.

"Yes Mme DuLange? My dad says that if I don't have French, I won't be able to play basketball."

"I'd be willing to let you take French, if you had a tutor."

"A tutor?" Troy said, his mind going over everybody in their class.

"Not someone in your class, you need someone who is far ahead of you. Hmm, I know the perfect person! He's taking AP French."

"I thought that wasn't a class?"

"Well, only one person signed up, but Ryan is very special," Ryan rolled his eyes, "so the principle authorized me to have a private class for him." She looked at her watch. "He should be coming any minute now."

"Ryan who?" Troy wondered, thinking of all the Ryan's he knew in the grades ahead of him.

"Why, Ryan Evans of course."

Ryan sighed; this would be a perfect time to make an entrance.

"Bonjour Mme DuLange, Comment êtes-vous??" _(Hello Mrs. DuLange, how are you?)_

"Ah, Ryan. Mon meilleur étudiant. Bon bon, vous êtes ici enfin. Venir, assied je veux avoir un discours avec vous_." (Ah, Ryan. My best student. Good good, you are here at last. Come, sit down I want to have a talk with you.)_

"Mme DuLange, je ne pourrais pas aider entendant par hasard votre conversation avec Troy." _(Mme DuLange, I couldn't help overhearing your conversation with Troy.)_ Ryan said, walking over to Troy and his teacher. Troy was standing there, staring at Ryan. "Troy, can I have a talk with you for a moment? Un moment, s'il vous plaît Mme DuLange" _(A moment, please Mme. DuLange.)_

Ryan grabbed Troy's arm and dragged him to the back of the room. "Now Troy, doubtless you would like to know what exactly is going on. I cannot tell you at this time; this is a most inappropriate setting for an explanation. Come over after school today and I'll explain everything to you. Meet me at my locker in about half an hour. That's all the time I will need."

With that, Ryan turned and walked back to the teacher. "Mme DuLange, pouvons-nous continuer maintenant avec la classe?" _(Mme DuLange may we now continue with the class?)_

**-----HSM-----**

After his fifteen minutes of AP French and fifteen minutes of AP Computer Science, Ryan headed to his locker.

Troy was standing there, leaning up against them. When he saw Ryan he straightened and spoke quickly. "Ryan, what is going on? AP French? Advanced Placement? I am totally confused. You said at lunch that you had the basics and that was it. Now I find that you're in extra classes?"

"Troy, can this wait until we're at home? Dad will be here to pick me up in half an hour. Why don't we go to the gym and shoot some hoops until then, alright?"

"Um, ok." Troy was still confused, but he couldn't pass up a chance to play basketball.

They headed to the gym. Ryan opened the doors, and grabbed a basketball off of the rack. "So did you want to play one-on-one, Donkey, Around the World, 21, you decide."

Troy considered. Playing one-on-one with someone who didn't play a lot of (if any!) basketball wouldn't be fair. The same went with 21. "Why don't we play Around the World?"

"Sure. Want to go first?"

"No, you can," Troy said generously.

Ryan shrugged, with a little smile on his face. He walked over to the first position. He shot, and got it in.

"Pretty good start," laughed Troy. Ryan smiled, and moved to the next position. He shot, and got it in. He moved to the next one. Shot, and got it in. Troy stood there in shock as Ryan moved all the way around the key, getting every single shot in. Then he worked his way back around. When he finished, he grabbed the ball and turned to Troy.

"I believe that makes me the winner." He said calmly. Ryan looked at his watch and noticed that his dad would be there in ten minutes. "Come on, dad'll be here soon." He put the basketball back, grabbed his backpack and left the gym. He stood outside of the doors and laughed hard at the expression on Troy's face.

He was laughing so hard and loud that it shook Troy out of his reverie and he left the gym. Together they walked out of the school, Ryan still chuckling and Troy still silent.

They stood at the parking lot, and in a few minutes Ryan's dad arrived. Ryan opened the car door and asked his dad if Troy could come over for a while. Mr. Evans was surprised, but said yes. Ryan or Sharpay had never had any friends over except Kelsi since before high school.

Troy, still in a daze, got into the car, and they headed off to the Evans' house.


	3. Chapter 3

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**CHAPTER THREE**

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Troy was in the living rooms of the Evans' home. Their house wasn't a mansion like everybody imagined. It was just a simple two-story house, with good, solid furniture. The place was very nicely put together, every room had a colour scheme and everything matched perfectly.

When they had reached the Evans' home, their dad had gone directly to his study to work. Ryan had led Troy to the living room and they had both sat down. Before Ryan could start to explain, Sharpay came in and dragged her brother out into the kitchen. Troy could still hear what was being said.

"Are you crazy?"

"Mme DuLange told him he needed a tutor, and suggested me.

"WHAT? I told you not to trust teachers."

"I can't lie to a teacher about my IQ! They're smarter than that. Plus, I told you, I am NOT sacrificing my grades."

"Are you gonna tell him everything?"

"Well it's kind of hard not to. What lie could I come up with that would be even halfway to being believable?"

"You're the smart one!"

"You don't want me to tell?"

"NO! We can't trust him."

"If you insist."

Ryan and Sharpay came out of the kitchen. Troy jumped up and walked over to their CD rack. Troy pretended that he hadn't been listening to their conversation and pretended to be occupied with the CDs.

"Cool, you guys have the CATS soundtrack. One of my favourite musicals. Phantom of the Opera too. I should make a copy of this and give it to Chad's mom." He turned around nonchalantly. "So what were you going to tell me?"

"OK Troy. The reason that I'm so good at French is because I spent grades 3-5 in a French Immersion program."

Troy was impressed. If he hadn't heard that conversation, he would have believed that. "Wow, impressive LIE, Ryan."

"Oh, you heard."

Troy's eyes widened. "How did you know that I overheard you?"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "There was no other way you could have known it was a lie." He turned to Sharpay. "I'm going to have to tell him."

Sharpay glared at Troy. "Alright, but you have to SWEAR never to tell ANYONE about this!"

Troy was taken aback at the vehemence, but he agreed.

"Ok, follow me Troy." He led Troy up the stairs and to his bedroom. "Um, would you mind waiting until I change out of my school clothes?"

"Oh, ok yeah." Troy waited outside while Ryan went into the room. Troy and Sharpay were standing in the hallway waiting. Suddenly, Sharpay grabbed Troy by the arm with a grip so firm it made his arm hurt.

Pulling him up close to her, she whispered fiercely. "If you tell anyone, and if my brother in any way gets hurt by this, I will hurt you so bad that you will never be able to play basketball again. Got that?"

Troy's eyes widened. He nodded quickly, believing she meant every word. What on earth could be so important that she would threaten me like this?

She smiled sweetly, and said "good. I'm glad we understand each other."

Ryan opened his door, and gestured for Troy to come in. Troy entered hesitantly; glancing over his shoulder as if afraid that Sharpay would jump on him and start pulling his hair out. Troy looked at Ryan, who was dressed, not in his usual dress pants, shirt and hat, but in casual jeans and a tee-shirt. Then he looked around the room.

At first glance, you could tell Ryan's favourite colour was blue. The walls of his room were painted a Symphony blue. The ceiling was white, and the door trims and furniture were white too. To the left, Troy saw through an open door, a bathroom. Across from the main door he looked and saw a sliding door opening out onto a balcony. The room was simple, neat and cool. Troy noticed in the corner of the room, next to the dresser with a sound system and CDs on top of it, was a telescope. There were no posters on the wall, just a mirror.

"Why don't we go onto the deck, hmm?" Ryan said, opening a drawer of the desk and pulling out a single piece of paper. He led them through the sliding doors and onto the balcony. Ryan pointed to a deck chair, and they all sat down.

"Would you like something to drink, Troy? Water, juice, anything?" Sharpay asked.

"Um, some water would be fine." Troy said, and waited for Sharpay to order Ryan to get it.

Ryan started to rise to get it, but Sharpay stopped him. "No, no, let me. You better start on the story."

Troy was amazed. This Sharpay was nothing like the one he saw every day at school. The Sharpay he knew wouldn't lift a finger to protect her brother (in fact, she'd be the one against him); the Sharpay he knew wouldn't go get things herself. He turned to Ryan expectantly. "Well?"

Ryan sighed. "Ok, well it might explain a few things if you saw this first." He handed Troy the piece of paper, and as Troy read it, his eyes got wider and his eyebrows started creeping upwards.


	4. Chapter 4

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**CHAPTER FOUR**

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Troy couldn't believe what the piece of paper was telling him. _An IQ of 140? Ryan? Isn't the average 90?_ He looked up at Ryan.

"Have you finished reading? Good. Well then I suppose you'd like an explanation."

"Um, yeah. That would be nice." Troy said.

"Well you see," Ryan started to explain, but was interrupted by Sharpay.

"Here you go, Troy. I didn't put any ice in it or anything. Is that alright?"

"Um, oh, it's fine." Troy looked back at Ryan. Sharpay sat down.

"What is the best way to explain, maybe-"

"-we should get Kelsi over here." They said in unison. Suddenly, Sharpay's cell phone went off. Troy and Ryan politely waited for her to be finished.

"Hello? Oh hello Mrs. Robinson. How are things at the centre? Oh that's terrible! Is Sharon going to be alright? I see. Well of course. I'll ask him, just give me a moment." She pulled the cell phone away from her ear and started talking to Ryan.

"Ryan, Sharon broke her leg, and Mrs. Robinson was asking if I could fill in for her. She was wondering if you'd like to help too." Sharpay looked at Troy and smirked. "Maybe Troy would like to come too."

Ryan looked at Troy, a glint of mischief in his eye. "What about it Troy, would you care to join us? I promise it will be a lot of fun."

"Um, okay sure."

"Mrs. Robinson, we'll be there as soon as possible. We'll be bringing a friend along as well. Thank you, we'll see you soon!" Sharpay hung up, and looked at Troy.

"Troy, we'll be done around 5:30. Why don't you stay for dinner? That way we'll have plenty of time to explain everything." She gave an innocent smile at Troy.

Ryan grinned at Sharpay. He knew exactly what she was thinking.

Troy didn't like the way Sharpay was smiling at him, but he nodded. He had to know what was going on.

**-----HSM-----**

Five minutes later, they got off the bus in front of a building. Troy's eyes took in the sign. It simply read "The ACDC"

"Is this another one of your music things?" Troy said a little sneer in his voice.

Sharpay smiled. "Just you wait. Come on, Ryan. I don't want to leave Mrs. Robinson in there a minute longer than she has to be. Twenty is a rather large number."

They walked into the building, and Troy realized that it was like a giant indoor playground. Sharpay and Ryan walked over to a woman who was standing with a clipboard in her hands.

"Ryan! How good to see you. It's been ages since you last came with Sharpay to help out. Now, the children are playing in the back, Monique is with them at the moment, but her shift was supposed to be over ages ago and she's worn out. Sharon was supposed to be here but she broke her leg. Why don't you go on back and get started."

Ryan and Sharpay walked over to a door and went through it. Troy was still slightly in shock. The woman, who he presumed was Mrs. Robinson, walked over to him. "Hello, you must be Sharpay's friend."

Troy shook her hand. "Yes, I'm Troy. I was wondering, what is this place?"

She gave a little laugh. "You're her friends and you don't know? The ACDC is the Albuquerque Centre for Disadvantaged Children. It's kind of like a babysitting company, except we don't charge anything for our services. It's strictly volunteer. People, mostly single mothers, drop their children off here and we look after them while they go to work."

Troy by now was very confused. "And Sharpay Evans volunteers here?"

Mrs. Robinson nodded. "Yes, she's one of our most faithful volunteers." She lowered her voice. "She's also one of our largest donators, but don't let anyone know I told you that. Anyways, they're all in the back playing. There are about twenty children there. I have some work to do." She pointed to the door that Ryan and Sharpay had gone through, then walked over to another door marked 'administration'.

Troy sighed, and opened the door.


	5. Chapter 5

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**CHAPTER FIVE**

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Troy walked through the open doorway, and before he even had time to take in his surrounding, he found himself pelted with water balloons. It took a few seconds to get over the shock of being suddenly drenched with ice cold water. When he opened his eyes, his eyes caught Sharpay's. She was doubled over with laughter. Troy glared at her then looked around.

He saw about twenty children running around a huge green yard. The green grass was an oasis, surrounded on all sides by dingy buildings covered in dirt and grime. A tall fence protected it from the outside world. Looking at the children running around with happy faces, Troy realized just what this place meant to them.

The children were running around with water balloons, chasing Ryan who was running around, half-heartedly trying to dodge the flying missiles. Within minutes he was drenched. He stopped the kids, and pointed to Sharpay, who so far had remained dry.

"No, no Ryan no! How could you, my own brother!" She shrieked as she started running around in circles, much as Ryan had done. Ryan stood there laughing. A few moments later Sharpay collapsed on the ground, covered in water.

"Dog pile on Sharpie!" The kids cried as the all jumped on her.

Troy held his breath, waiting for the inevitable (in his mind): Sharpay screaming at the little kids to get off her. He half expected her to storm away furious because of her ruined clothes.

Sharpay laid there for a few seconds, allowing the kids their fun. "Okay, everybody off." They obeyed her. Troy was stunned. No screaming or yelling, just a laughing (Sharpay, laughing?) request that the children obeyed immediately. Troy was surprised that Sharpay wasn't crying because her clothes were wet and ruined. Then Troy noticed the reason why.

Sharpay wasn't wearing expensive clothes. On the contrary, she was wearing a pair of faded, slightly ripped at the knees, jeans with a simple red t-shirt.

Sharpay turned to Troy. "Alright kids, this is a friend of Ryan and me. His name is Troy. Dear me, Troy. It seems as if you're all wet."

Troy started to get angry. He didn't like being caught off guard like that. "You're darn right I'm wet. You could at least have given me some warning!"

"Aw," Sharpay said teasingly. "What's the matter, Troy? Letting a little water get ya down?" She turned back to the group. "But kids, that wasn't a very nice way to welcome Troy into the group. Why don't we welcome him in a much funner way?"

"Funner isn't a word..." Ryan called out.

"A funner way." Sharpay repeated, making the children laugh. "Now, does anyone have any suggestions about how we could make Troy more comfortable?"

A bunch of children raised their hands. "Tommy, what do you think?"

"Why don't we let him play with us?" Tommy said excitedly.

"Why Tommy, that's a great idea. Does anyone know what game we should play? Yes Melodie?"

"Can we play Alligator?" Melodie said shyly. She was relatively new to the group, and Sharpay always made sure that she was included in everything.

"That's a great idea. Why don't we make Troy IT?"

"Yeah!" The kids all screamed, and ran towards the HUGE jungle gym that features 3 rope climbing nets, 5 slides, 2 poles. The entire gym was separated into 3 groups arranged in a triangle, all connected by monkey bars. It was the largest jungle gym that Troy had ever seen. Ryan and Sharpay walked over to the gym, and Troy ran after them.

"Hold up! What's Alligator?" Sharpay and Ryan looked at each other, then at him disbelievingly.

"You've never played Alligator?" Sharpay whispered. Troy frowned, she was making him feel stupid. Ryan noticed this and quickly explained.

"Alligator is a game where everybody gets on the jungle gym except for one person who is IT. The person who is IT stays on the ground. The point of the game is for the person who is IT to tag the people who are on the gym. IT has to keep one foot on the ground at all times. If IT catches someone, then they are IT too, and they form a team to catch everyone. The person who is the last one to get caught wins. Does that make sense?" Ryan explained patiently.

Troy nodded. "Yup I think so."

"Then game on," Ryan said as he climbed onto the gym. "By the way, Devon," He pointed to a black-haired wiry boy. "Devon is the champion of this game. No one has ever been able to catch him."

Troy reached out and grabbed Ryan's leg. Ryan was startled. "What did you do that for?"

Troy smirked. "Didn't you say 'game on'?"


	6. Chapter 6

**-------------------------------**

**CHAPTER SIX**

**-------------------------------**

After a few minutes of playing Alligator, Troy was having so much fun that he forgot to wonder at what he was doing. Troy was silent on the trip home, watching Ryan and Sharpay laugh and joke with each other. Troy had fun playing with those kids. He hardly ever got to just run around and play anymore, with basketball, musicals and trying to keep his grades up. Troy sighed, if only he could do this again. Well, why can't I?

Troy looked at Sharpay. He waiting for a break in the conversation, and started to speak. "Erm, Sharpay, I have a question."

"Yeah, Troy?"

"I was wondering, can anyone volunteer at that place?"

Sharpay's eyes lit up. "You want to volunteer? Troy that would be so awesome. Mrs. Robinson is always looking for new recruits. Tell you what, today's Monday, and I volunteer again on Wednesday after school. Will you be able to join me? I'll take you with me and we can talk to Mrs. Robinson about it."

"I suppose I can make it. I guess I'll meet you there. I have a few things to do at home afterwards, but I'll be able to make it."

"Great." Sharpay smiled. She was so happy that someone else their age would be volunteering. She had fun, but she was the only teenager that ever volunteered there (except for Ryan, who joined her on the weekends).

**-----HSM-----**

"Ryan, you call Kelsi while I get everything out. We're making our speciality?"

"Alright. That sounds fine. It should only take me a few minutes." Ryan went to call Kelsi while Sharpay headed to the kitchen. Troy didn't know who to follow but decided that it would be more interesting in the kitchen.

Sharpay started opening shelves and pulling out bottles, pots and a whole bunch of other cooking utensils.

"Um Sharpay, are you going to cook?"

Sharpay looked at Troy. "Well duh. Dad won't be done working until he's ready to eat. Me and Ryan-"

"Ryan and I," Ryan interrupted, barging into the room.

"WE cook dinner every night." Sharpay said, rolling her eyes.

"So what are you making?"

"Spaghetti." Ryan said, grabbing a pot and starting to work on the sauce.

"That's your speciality? Spaghetti?"

"Troy, have you ever made spaghetti before?" Sharpay laughed, as she put the noodles on the stove.

"Well no. But it's pretty simple, right? You boil the noodles, and then heat up a can of tomato sauce."

Ryan shook his head. "Troy, Troy, Troy. There is so much more to spaghetti than that. At least the way we make it. First of all, there are many different ways of boiling noodles. Salt water or regular water. Then there's the amount of time it takes. The sauce is what's really our speciality; we don't just heat it up out of a can. We make it."

All this time Ryan was busy with the sauce, while Sharpay was busy cutting bread. Troy was watching this with interest. He'd never actually made any food before in his life. The smell was starting to make him hungry.

Ryan left his sauce and grabbed the plates and cutlery. He put them on the kitchen table as they heard a knock on the kitchen door. Ryan opened it and there stood Kelsi.

"Hey Ry, have you guys eaten it all yet?"

"Nope, in fact you're just in time to set the table." Ryan laughed, and headed back to his sauce.

Kelsi quickly set the table, but soon realized something. "Um, Ryan I think you gave me one extra plate." She hadn't noticed Troy standing off to the side.

"Nope," Sharpay said, bringing a tray full of bread over to the table.

Kelsi looked up and saw Troy. She blinked. "Troy? What are you doing here?"

"Um, Ryan and Sharpay invited me over after school, and then for dinner."

Kelsi looked questioningly at Sharpay. "Anyone care to explain?"

"Alright, I'd better do it. Boy this sure has been an eventful first day of school. Okay, well you know Ryan's schedule right? How he has two extra classes. Well one of them is AP French. He went into the French room and the French teacher was talking to Troy, telling him that he needed to get a tutor."

Troy blushed and looked down at his feet. He wanted as few people to know about his needing a tutor as possible.

"So, Mme. DuLange suggested Ryan. Of course, Troy was very confused, but luckily Ryan was there to explain. Well, not explain. The EXPLANATION," Sharpay said with great influence so that Kelsi would understand. "Will come after dinner. So now Troy knew that Ryan was brilliant in French, so brought him home with the intention of telling him everything. Then Mrs. Robinson called and needed someone to help volunteer, so all three of us went and now Troy's staying for dinner."

"Uh huh. And why am I here?"

"Because you should be here while we're explaining. After all, you were the one who decided-ow!" Ryan said as Sharpay elbowed him in the side. "You didn't have to do that, I wasn't going to say anything more. Anyways, do you want to go tell Dad that dinner's ready?" Ryan said as he set his sauce on the table along with the noodles and bread.

Sharpay nodded, and went to tell their father that dinner was ready. A few minutes later she returned, father in tow.

"Mmhmmm, spaghetti, my favourite. Oh, and I see your friend from this afternoon will be joining us. Hello, I'm Allen Evans." He said, shaking Troy's hand.

"Um, hello sir. I'm Troy Bolton."

"Bolton? Say, you're the guy who beat Ryan out of the last musical aren't you? Boy Ryan was sure relieved-"

"Dad! Let's sit down and start eating, okay?" Ryan said quickly. Troy was more confused than ever. Ryan was relieved when they didn't get the parts? What was going on?


	7. Chapter 7

**-------------------------------**

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**-------------------------------**

After dinner was done, Troy was surprised to see Sharpay wash the dishes. Kelsi helped while Ryan and Troy stayed at the table talking to Ryan's dad. Well, Ryan was talking with his dad. Troy was just sitting there listening to the exchange of words. Mr. Evans was in advertising, so he had a wide range of subjects to talk about. He never made an advertisement for a product until he knew everything about it. So Troy sat in silence, listening to Ryan and his dad talk about the pros and cons of a certain brand of dish detergent.

Ryan noticed Troy's blank look. "Dad, is it okay if Troy and I are excused?"

"Why sure, go ahead. I have a few more things to go over in my study. I think I'm going to use that little idea of yours." Ryan smiled.

Ryan headed for the door, stopping to blow in Sharpay's ear. She giggled, the breath tickling her ear. "RYAN!" She screamed playfully. "We'll be up in a few minutes, we're almost done."

Ryan nodded and left the room, Troy following.

**-----HSM-----**

Troy and Ryan were sitting on Ryan's bed, waiting for Sharpay and Kelsi to join them. Ryan stood up and walked over to his sliding doors that opened onto the balcony. It was a clear night and the stars were bright. "Troy, want to see something?"

Troy shrugged as Ryan took out his telescope and positioned it carefully. After looking through it and moving it around a little, Ryan waved Troy over.

Troy leaned in and saw something round. "What is it?"

"It's Mars." (A/N: I know almost nothing about astronomy, so please forgive any mistakes I made)

"Get out. Really?" Troy looked through the telescope again. He'd never imagined being able to look at other planets.

Sharpay came into the room and saw Ryan and Troy's shadowy forms on the balcony. Raising her finger to her lips in a gesture of silence to Kelsi, she tiptoed to the open door. It was dark and silent out on the balcony, Ryan had turned the lights off in his room so that they would be able to stargaze better.

"Solving the mysteries of the universe, I see." She whispered eerily into Troy's ear.

Troy, who had been concentrating, jumped three feet and screamed.

Ryan, who had seen Sharpay creeping up, laughed.

"Sharpay! Don't you EVER do that again!" He said angrily.

"Oh come on Troy. It was funny hearing you squeal like a girl." Sharpay said teasingly. Troy scowled.

"Okay enough of that, how about we all go into my room and we let Troy in on everything." Ryan said, hoping to calm Troy.

They all went back into the bedroom, and Ryan turned the light back on. Ryan looked at Sharpay, and Sharpay looked at Ryan.

"How should-"

"-we start?"

Kelsi leaned towards Troy, "it's freaky when they do that."

"I'd better explain, since I'm the one Troy found out about." Ryan said, sighing. He looked at Troy, and started to explain.

**-----HSM-----**

"So for the past 3 years you both have been acting one way at school, and another way at home?" Troy said, summing everything up in one sentence.

Ryan and Sharpay looked at each other. "Yup, that's basically it." Sharpay said.

"So what happens now that I know?"

"Well, you can't tell anyone." Ryan said matter-of-factly.

"Why not?" Troy wondered.

"Well, can you imagine how much trouble it would cause in our school?"

Troy sat back and thought. Yes, knowing that Ryan and Sharpay were different, that would certainly affect a lot of people in the school. After the recent "breaking free" of school traditions, it would be catastrophic to introduce another one so quickly.

"We might as well go on acting as we always have. It saves a lot of trouble, and the people who really matter already know." Sharpay said, smiling at Kelsi.

"Who does know?" Troy asked.

"Well the teachers all know about me. But they assume I'm just shy about my high IQ so they leave me alone." Ryan explained.

"And I volunteer after school, so everybody there knows about the real me. Actually, no one at school knows about the real me, except Kelsi and Ryan of course."

"Does Ms. Darbus know?"

"Why would she need to know? All she knows is that I'm a brilliant performer and good at organizing people. That's why I'm co-president of the Drama club."

Troy sat thinking. After all, why should he tell anyone? "Alright, I'll keep your secret. But in return, you have to start hanging out with my group."

"Your group?" Ryan asked.

"Chad, Gabby and Taylor."

"Um, why do we need to do that?" Sharpay asked.

"Well," Troy explained "you've been doing this bet for 3 years, and I think you've gotten used to it. You need a new challenge. So, your new challenge is to keep up the act around a different group of people."

Sharpay looked at Ryan worriedly.

"Troy," Ryan said. "Can I talk to you for a bit in private?" He got up and Troy followed him into the shared bathroom.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I am SO sorry that I haven't updated more. I've been having laptop troubles and been really busy with exams and essays and things like that.**

**-------------------------------**

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

**-------------------------------**

"Well?" Troy asked as soon as the door was closed.

"Here's the thing, Sharpay's really sensitive about her Ice Princess image. She hates it when people call her that."

"It doesn't look like she cares."

"Well what can I say, we're pros." Ryan's face grew angry. "Every time I hear someone call her that I feel like punching them in the nose. Luckily Sharpay knows that and is able to get me away and calm me down beforehand. Anyways, as I was saying, Sharpay is really sensitive about being called an Ice Queen. The problem is that Chad is the one who is the worst about that nickname. I'm not sure **I** could handle it. I know Sharpay could put up a good front about it, but I'm not sure I could keep my temper."

"You think you could take Chad?"

Ryan smiled. "Troy, what have you learned today?"

"Well basically I learned that everything I thought I knew about you isn't real. That what I see at school isn't the real you."

"That's right. At school you see a wimpy, weak dumb guy. It's a logical step for you to assume then that in reality I'm not wimpy, weak or dumb."

Troy looked confused for a moment, then his brow cleared. "Oh, yeah I get what you're saying."

"Anyways, all I'm asking is that before we start hanging out with you, you need to talk with your group and make sure they know not to call Sharpay that."

"What about you? You're fine with people calling you stupid?"

Ryan shrugged. "I know I'm not and they're the stupid ones if they can't see what I'm really like. If you think about it, you could have been able to tell."

Troy nodded. "Well, okay I'll talk to the guys. How about you give me 4 days to smooth things over. You guys join us for lunch on Friday, okay?"

Ryan nodded. "Sure, that will be fine."

**-----HSM-----**

The next few days consisted of Troy's frantic efforts to convince Chad to let Sharpay and Ryan sit with them. It wasn't until Thursday after school that Troy was able to convince Chad.

"But Troy, they're stuck up snobs!"

Troy gave a little half-smile. "So? They're good performers and even though we are too, I think Gabby and I should get to know them better, so that we can learn a little more about performing and the business."

Chad rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay fine."

"One thing, Chad. It's one thing to call Sharpay an Ice Princess behind her back, but another thing to call it to her face or anywhere you know she'll be able to hear. Promise me you won't call her that?"

"Fine, fine. Gee, do I have to cut my hair too? Maybe they won't like it so long." Chad said sarcastically.

-----HSM-----

"Whiz," Sharpay whispered as they stood by the door of the cafeteria holding their trays.

"Don't worry Dee, it'll be fine. You're a great actress, you can pull it off. Kelsi's there too, look."

They looked towards the table and saw Troy, Chad, Taylor, Gabby, Kelsi, Jason and Zeke all sitting together. They had left 2 spaces open between Troy and Zeke for Ryan and Sharpay.

Sharpay took a deep breath. and started walking forward. As she walked Ryan murmured in her ear. "You know it'll be worse if they find out about me than you."

Sharpay stopped in her tracks at that. She turned towards Ryan with wide eyes. She looked into his eyes and saw the fear that was hidden deep within them. Ryan was right, she realized. If they found out about her, all that would happen would be that they'd know she was really nice. If they found out about Ryan, who knows what they'd think. "Oh Whiz I'm so sorry. You're right! Don't worry." A determined look showed in her eyes. "They'll never find out about you. I'll see to that." With that she turned and walked firmly towards the table.

She sat down next to Troy, not noticing the worried look she got from Gabby. Ryan was still standing where she'd left him. Sharpay looked up at him and met his eyes. Ryan walked forward and joined them.


	9. Chapter 9

**-------------------------------**

**CHAPTER NINE**

**-------------------------------**

"Hello there," Chad said with a little sneer in his voice. "Come slumming have you?"

Sharpay tossed her head a little, patting her brother's leg under the table to give him support. "Well you'd better get used to it, Chad, because we're going to be joining you a lot more from now on."

Troy looked at her amazed. This girl sitting beside him was so different than the Sharpay he'd seen on Monday. She really was a brilliant actress.

Ryan leaned over to Sharpay and whispered badly so everyone could hear. "Shar, what's slumming?" Troy's eyebrows lifted at this superb bit of acting and everyone at the table rolled their eyes.

"Never mind, Ry. I'll explain it later. Well then," Sharpay said. "What do you people usually talk about?" The boredness in her tone was obvious to everyone.

Taylor bristled at 'you people.' "Well I was going to invite everybody here to my house tonight. There's going to be a meteor shower and our backyard is the best place around town to watch it from."

"That's a great idea, Taylor!" Troy said quickly, hoping to distract everybody. "Ryan, why don't you bring along your awesome tele-"

"Ryan and I will be too busy rehearsing tonight. We have a very important role coming up and we have a lot of planning to do." Sharpay interrupted just in time.

Troy looked at Ryan whose face was unconcerned. For the first time Troy realized how hard it was to keep a secret. Glancing under the table quickly he noticed that Ryan and Sharpay were squeezing each others hands. Troy figured that was their way of communicating. Ryan, being the more astute one and recognizing potential threats, would signal Sharpay when to be on her guard. They made a great team.

"So, Sharpay," Gabby said, making an effort to be nice. "What classes do you have this year?"

"Well Ms. Darbus for homeroom of course, but you all knew that already." They'd been in the same homeroom together for all of their High School years. "On A day I have Biology, Study, Drama and P.E. On B day I have Math, Textiles** (A/N: sewing and fashion design. Seems like a class Sharpay would take) **English and French."

Gabby nodded, noting how many light classes she had. She turned to Ryan, a condescending note in her voice. "And what about you, Ryan? What classes do you have this year?"

Ryan shrugged. "You know regular classes and stuff. Me and Sharpay have Drama, P.E. and English together."

Not wanting to press him further, she nodded softly and turned away. Only Troy saw the anger in Kelsi's eyes. Then he realized that he felt that anger too. They were all treating Ryan like a little kid who didn't understand half of what they said.

"Hey Ryan, could I talk with you a moment, alone?" Troy said, getting up and leaving the table.

Ryan followed Troy to a corner of the cafeteria. "What's the matter, Troy?"

Troy looked at Ryan. "I am so sorry, man."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Sorry for what?"

"For my friends! They're treating you like you're a little kid! I don't know how you can stand it."

Ryan looked around the room and noticed that their group was all staring at them. "Well, there's a little more about me that you still don't know. How about after school today you come over again and I'll tell you. Now isn't really the most opportune time."

"Opportune?"

Ryan smiled. "Convenient."

Troy still looked blank. Ryan grinned outright. "The isn't the best time to tell you because there are some people sitting at a table over there who will begin to wonder if I was to go into a half-hour long explanation of my life." Ryan gave a little smile at Troy and headed back to the table. As soon as they reached the table the bell rang and the group scattered.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Many people seem to be confused at the school system I've described. I'm going to attempt to explain it again; hopefully it'll make more sense. Just to clarify, I live in British Columbia, Canada and the school system in place is based on my niece's school. (In my school we had 4-day weeks so I couldn't use that. That would have been even more confusing to people, although it would have made things a little easier…)**

**The schedule is divided into 2 days, Day A and Day B. I'll try to map it out a little for you.**

**WEEK ONE**

**Monday Day A**

**Tuesday Day B**

**Wednesday Day A**

**Thursday Day B**

**Friday Day A**

**WEEK TWO**

**Monday Day B**

**Tuesday Day A**

**Wednesday Day B**

**Thursday Day A**

**Friday Day B**

**Each day has 4 classes, 2 before lunch and 2 afterwards (except for Ryan who has a class after school as well)**

**On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while Ryan is in his extra class, Sharpay rides the bus down to the ACDC for her volunteer work. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she spends the time in the Library reading or doing homework or in the Auditorium practicing.**

**Now, in BC, Canada High School starts in Grade 8 and goes to Grade 12. I'm a little unsure of how American schools do things, but I'm assuming that Grade 8 isn't in the American High School, which would make**

**Grade 8 nonexistent (Primary or Elementary school)**

**Grade 9 freshman**

**Grade 10 sophomore**

**Grade 11 junior**

**Grade 12 senior**

**I'm assuming that the events of HSM took place during grade 9 and the bet started at the beginning of grade 8. Now they've just started grade 10.**

**Oh I just know I've explained things horribly! I'm so sorry, but unless I was explaining in person I don't know how to do it any differently!**

**-------------------------------**

**CHAPTER TEN**

**-------------------------------**

That afternoon Ryan sat on his bed with Troy at the foot and the connecting bathroom door open so that Sharpay could hear. Ryan knew that they didn't have a lot of time before it was time to leave. Their father was taking them out for dinner to celebrate a new contract he'd gotten that day.

"Okay Troy, I'm sure you have several questions you'd like me to answer. You've probably been wondering about them all week, seeing as I haven't had a chance to explain things to you."

"Ryan, just start explaining." Sharpay said, coming through the bathroom door. She looked at Troy and rolled her eyes. "He always assumes that we're on the same page as he is."

"Actually the best way is for you to ask me questions, that way I can explain exactly what you would like to know."

"Um, okay. Well why are you so afraid that people will know you're smart?"

Sharpay looked at Ryan worriedly, but Ryan just nodded and leant back against the headboard.

"This bet has been going on since grade 8. If someone had found out around that time it wouldn't have been such a big deal. But last year was when things began to get complicated..."

**-----FLASHBACK-----**

_"Ryan, there's a letter here for you." Allen Evans said entering his sons' room with a knock._

_Ryan hopped off his bed and took the letter. It looked very official with a big blue seal on the envelope and a neatly printed address. Ryan raised an eyebrow as he walked over to his desk to get the letter opener._

_After reading the contents of the letter, Ryan went downstairs to dinner, thinking hard about what the letter was asking him to do. What would his father think of him doing this?_

_As they began to eat dinner, Allen Evans broached the subject that had been on his mind ever since the mysterious envelope had reached their house. "So, Ryan, anything interesting happen lately?" He said casually._

_Ryan burst out laughing. "Dad, you really need to learn to be more subtle. Okay, well that letter was from NASA."_

_"NASA? National Aeronautics and Space Administration? What are they doing writing you a letter?"_

_"Well, they want me to participate in an experiment. They need someone like me and contacted Dr. Braysner to see if he had a patient with the right qualifications. And Dr. Braysner gave them my name."_

_"Will this interfere with your school activities?"_

_"I can participate in the experiment after schools. I'd have to be picked up by jet and would be getting back very late." Ryan turned to Sharpay. "I'm afraid that I wouldn't have any time to participate in the musical this year."_

_Sharpay shrugged. "I wouldn't mind." She said simply, giving Ryan a wink to know they'd be discussing this later._

_"Well if Sharpay doesn't mind and you don't let it interfere at school then you can do the experiment. I trust you, Ryan."_

_-----HSM-----_

_"So Dee, why don't you want to do the musical?"_

_"I met this new girl today, Gabriella."_

_"Oh her? I remember seeing her around."_

_"Anyways, I hated acting so mean to her, especially after I heard her voice. Her speaking voice is so musical I'm sure she's a terrific singer. And, well to make up for being so mean to her I want to make sure she gets the lead in the musical."_

_Ryan nodded. "Okay, so how can we make this work...?"_

**-----END OF FLASHBACK-----**

"Wait a second, you're saying that our getting the leads, you planned all that? You planned changing the dates, knowing that we'd find a way to work around it?"

Troy said, shocked beyond belief.

Sharpay shrugged. "Of course, we knew that Taylor and Gabby are very smart, and of course Kelsi was in on it to make sure you knew every little detail." Sharpay smiled. "You did receive some help from her, am I right?"

Troy thought back. Now that she mentioned it, Kelsi had come up with some very crucial points in the plan.

Ryan smiled, and continued his story.

**A/N: And once again, sorry for the bungled explanation of the school system here in BC…**


	11. Chapter 11

**-------------------------------**

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

**-------------------------------**

**-----FLASHBACK-----**

_Ryan walked through the halls of the NASA somewhat nervously. He knew that he was at least ten years younger than the youngest person working there. They had a minimal age requirement of 26 that was only broken for unusual circumstances._

_Ryan looked down at the tiny map in front of him, an asterisk indicating his final destination. As he slowed his step, trying to find his bearings, he found himself flying through the air and hitting the ground, hard._

_He looked up dazedly and saw off to the side a group of young men laughing and pointing at him, one of which had a sneer of triumph on his face._

_"So you're the new kid, the 'genius' who's here to solve the mysteries of the universe."_

_Ryan looked down, "I'm not at liberty to discuss the experiment with you," He said as bravely as he knew how. He didn't want any trouble and knew that there would be no one there to help him if he did._

_"Oh," the man said going over to help Ryan up. Ryan assessed him quickly._

_He looked to be a little younger than 30 with dark hair, eyes and the shadow of a beard. Ryan concluded logically that this man must be the youngest person working there and therefore felt threatened by Ryan. The writing on his chest read _'Steven, engineer in training.'

_"Thank you, Steven." Ryan said quietly, instantly suspecting something was wrong. It was illogical that this man, who Ryan was sure had been the one who tripped him, would so soon try to help him._

_"No problem, and hey, I'm sorry for tripping you. This is your first day here, right?"_

_Ryan relaxed a trifle. Maybe this guy wouldn't be so bad. "Yeah it is."_

_"Well let me help you, where are you trying to get to?" Ryan handed over the map and pointed to the star. "Oh, you're trying to get to Mr. Avery's office. Well right now we're here," Steven said, pointing to a corner. "So if you turn left the keep walking straight until you reach the door numbered 20034, then turn right and go up the stairs you should be fine." With a smile, Steven handed back the paper to Ryan._

_Ryan smiled back eagerly. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad._

**-----END OF FLASHBACK-----**

"And?"

"It was a supply closet." Ryan said, feeling slightly ashamed at having been tricked so easily.

"What a scum bag." Troy said mildly. "And I'm assuming that other things happened?"

"Yeah, like a lot of teasing. People made fun of me because I was so young. Steven was the worst. I think he was just jealous. I dreaded going every day. I learned to keep my cell phone on me at all times and even had the Superintendents' number on speed dial from being locked in rooms and closets all the time."

"Didn't he suspect anything?"

"Nah, if I'd said anything it would only have been worse. I'm quite a convincing liar."

"But why would that impact your decision here at home?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes exasperatingly. "Troy, kids are cruel, and we are cruel. We always tease people who are different and make their lives miserable. Ryan just wants to be normal so he never has to go through that again."

Troy raised an eyebrow at Ryan, who was sitting on the bed, re-living the awful memories at the NASA base.

Troy nodded, seeing that Ryan was serious. "Well I'll try my best. I'm sorry that I forced you to come to lunch today. I didn't realize how you felt."

Ryan looked up and smiled. "Don't you worry, Troy. It felt nice to be with other people again and not just Sharpay and I."

Troy's eyes narrowed. "How on earth do you stand it? I listened to them today; they treated you like a little child! Like you don't even understand two-syllable words!"

Sharpay gave a bitter laugh. "Now you know how I feel." She looked at Troy with a wealth of emotion in her eyes. "Every day I have to hear people tease Ryan because they think he's dumb. You think I don't hear what they're saying? Well I do. It's only because Ryan wants it to remain a secret that I've kept quiet for so long."

Sharpay looked at Ryan softly. "Not that you need me to fight your battles, Whiz."

"Puh-lease," Ryan laughed. "I could kick their butts."

"Really?" Troy asked, remembering what Ryan had said earlier about taking Chad on.

"Of course. I work out every day and go down to the local gym once a week."

"Ryan, Sharpay, we need to leave, like now, if we're to make reservations on time." Their father shouted up the stairs.

"Oh, Troy," Sharpay said as they led him to the door. "You weren't able to make it to the ACDC yesterday I noticed-"

"Yeah, dad called an emergency basketball meeting." Troy explained, not wanting them to think he hadn't gone on purpose.

"Well I was thinking that maybe you'd like to come with me tomorrow instead. I'd really like another teenager there to work with."

Troy nodded. "Okay, after school? I'll meet you on the bus, since we don't want anyone getting suspicious about your secret."

Sharpay grinned. "You mean Gabby don't you?"

"Huh?" Troy was shocked that Sharpay could be so sharp.

"It's obvious you like her, Troy. You don't want her to see me with you and get the wrong impression." Sharpay grinned.

"Uh," Troy said unsurely, seeing that he was trapped.

"Troy, it's obvious." Ryan stated firmly. "As if you almost sacrificing basketball wasn't enough, that little kiss on the cheek after call-backs was a dead give away. Why didn't you make a move after that?"

"Well, I guess I don't want to move too fast. We're good friends and I don't want to jeopardize that relationship." Troy shrugged. "But anyways, I've gotta go. I'll be late for dinner." With that Troy practically ran out of the door, wanting to get as far away from the Evans's and their probing questions as possible.

Sharpay rolled her eyes and looked at Ryan. "This will take some planning," she said with a wink as their father hustled them towards the car.

**A/N: Okay, everything about NASA I made up, I know that they probably wouldn't stand for bullying there, but I had to think of a reason why Ryan wouldn't want people to know. And kids really are cruel.**

**Just to clarify, this will NOT be a Troy/Sharpay or Troy/Ryan. I have other plans for the Evans's…**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Well here I am, back at last. I'm sorry that it took so long for me to update, but I just couldn't think of anything. Today, while I was at work, I seemed to be barraged with ideas, so here we are.**

**The events in this story will have absolutely nothing to do with High School Musical 2 or 3. I haven't even seen the second one yet, so nothing in this story will refer or conform to it.**

**Oh, and I've done some more research and I'm upping Ryan's IQ to 210, that way everything about NASA and him being a genius will be more realistic. When I first wrote this story I didn't know how high an IQ had to be for a person to be considered a genius.**

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**CHAPTER TWELVE**

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Sharpay took a deep breath. She always did before she left the car in the morning. Ryan reached over and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Come on Dee. Let's do this." Ryan smiled at her and got out of the car. Sharpay followed and as their father drove away they looked at each other. As they looked at each other, a vacant expression came over Ryan's face; at the same time, Sharpay's became hard. Her eyes lost their smile and the corner of her mouth lifted slightly.

"Don't just stand there looking at me," Sharpay said loudly. "We've got practice." She turned on her high heel and started walking towards the main doors, Ryan following a step behind. The crowds parted for her, knowing what would happen if they stayed in her way.

Sharpay entered the school and navigated the hallways, a definite destination in mind.

"Gabriella Montez, I need to talk to you." She said loudly as the dark-haired girl walked towards her.

"Sure, Sharpay, what's the problem?" Gabby said, confused.

"We hung out as a group yesterday, and as you know I intend that Ryan and I will join you from now on."

"Yes, Troy told me – "

"Tch, tch, tch. No talking while I'm talking. Now, if we are to hang out together, I have to get one thing straight. I have moved on. I am no longer interested in Troy Bolton. So you can stop trying to make me the villain in your little fairy tale romance."

"It's true you know," Ryan said eagerly. "Shar's sworn off men for the rest of her life."

"Quiet Ryan," Sharpay snapped over her shoulder. Ryan's eyes widened as he clamped his lips together. "So yeah, now we can all hang out and you can stop eyeing me as if I'm a man-hungry tigress waiting to snatch Troy Bolton from your clasp. Are we clear? Good. Then bye, see you at lunch." With that, Sharpay turned around and walked away, leaving a confused Gabby in her wake. Ryan gave Gabby a little wave and then followed Sharpay down the hallway.

"Phase One: done." Sharpay whispered as they reached their lockers.

"And Phase Two falls in quite nicely with our birthday coming up next week." Ryan added as he grabbed his books from his locker.

"Ry, you have too many books." Sharpay pointed out.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Guess I'd better 'forget' a few."

**-----HSM-----**

"This feels so… weird…" Chad whispered to Taylor as they sat together at their lunch table. "I mean, we're actually co-existing with them."

"It goes beyond all breaking freeness. Did you notice that after the musical everything went back to normal? Things are exactly the same as they were last year, except for you, Troy and Jason hanging out with Gabby and me. Kelsi too. And now all of a sudden Ryan and Sharpay have joined and we're a group." Taylor took a bite out of her sandwich. "This is very weird."

"So guys, what're everyone's plans for today?" Gabby said brightly, trying to make conversation.

"Ryan and I are very busy tonight. Our father's just landed a major deal and he's taking us to New York to see RENT." Sharpay bragged.

"I'm meeting a friend downtown." Troy said casually.

"What friend?" Chad asked.

"Just a friend. You don't know him." Troy quickly turned to Gabby. "What about you?"

"Oh I think I'm just going to curl up with a good book." Gabby smiled brightly at Troy, and he couldn't help but smile in return.

"Chad and I are going to the movies. You guys should come too." Taylor invited eagerly. She missed Chad's quick frown of disappointment.

"You're asking us to miss a Broadway production of RENT, just so that we can see a dinky little movie with you guys?" Sharpay flipped her hair over her shoulder disgustedly. "Sorry, but our dad's plans can't be changed, even if we wanted to."

"Yeah, he's hired a jet and everything." Ryan broke in eagerly. Sharpay rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, I'm having dinner with this friend afterwards." Troy shot a questioning look at Sharpay, whose answer was a rolling of the eyes and a barely perceptible nod.

Barely perceptible, but Gabby saw it and froze. Her mind was racing a mile a minute and she barely kept the hurt out of her eyes.

Ryan had seen it though. He turned to his sister and asked "did Dad get tickets for Damien too?"

Sharpay caught the message in her brother's eye and played along. "He'd better have. As if I could go to something as major as this and not bring my boyfriend along."

"You have a boyfriend?" Chad, Taylor, Gabby and Troy burst out as a group, not able to believe their ears.

"Well, he's not my boyfriend yet, but he will be soon." Sharpay said with a smirk. "It's just a matter of time really. I always get what I want."

"Damien who?"

"Does he go to this school?" 

"What grade is he in?"

"Where did you meet him?"

The questioned came thick and fast. Sharpay gave another one of her trademark smirks. "That's for me to know, and for you to mind your own business about. Now if you don't mind, me and Ryan have to go rehearse."

"It's 'Ryan and I'" Taylor pointed out with a smirk; she enjoyed putting Sharpay in her place as often as she could. This, she admitted to herself, wasn't as often as she'd like.

"'Ryan and I'," Sharpay said with a fake look of confusion. "I think you're mistaken. I always come first." With that she turned and flounced away, Ryan trailing behind her.


End file.
